# Crude oil

• India is estimated to have gained ₹35000 crore by importing Russian crude oil at discounts as well as levying windfall tax on domestic crude in the wake of a surge in prices since the Ukraine conflict began in February.
• India went on bargain hunting for Russian crude as the conflict prompted Moscow’s traditional buyers to shun those barrels, and sellers offered huge discounts.
• India has emerged the second largest buyer of Russian crude after China.
• Russian oil now accounts for 12% of India’s total crude oil purchase against less than 1% before the war.

# Direct tax

• Gross direct tax collections rose 30% to a little under ₹8.4 lakh crore during this fiscal year upto September 17, when the second installment of advance tax was paid.
• The current growth rate is more than twice the asking rate to meet the direct tax target of ₹14.2 lakh crore in the full financial year.
• With around a fortnight to go for the half year of FY 23 to end, direct tax collections are estimated at around 58% of the full year target.

# Online FIRs

• Lodging of online First information reports seems to be becoming more popular among complainants.
• According to Delhi Police data till August this year, 118467 we’re cases were registered through e-FIRs.
• Similarly, till August last year, 112387 cases were registered based on e-FIRs.
• Comparatively, people visited police stations to lodge 90064 cases in 2022, while 79596 cases were registered offline last year.

# Private banks

• The government has pulled up private banks for having a disproportionately low share in schemes like jan dhan yojana and insurance cover aimed at social Security.
• While the share of private banks in credit is more than 40%, they account for only 3% in Jan dhan yojana.